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ROMESCO ROASTED WHOLE CAULIFLOWER WITH HERBED TAHINI CREAM

November 7th, 2018

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Check out this festive little stunner! Maybe it’s a little too early to be bringing out the holiday colour palette in my recipes here, but also maybe some of you are seriously keen planners? If you’re looking ahead to the holidays and thinking about what you’re going to make for your vegan and gluten-free niece that’s also allergic to tree nuts, or you’re just looking for some general vegetable inspiration, I’ve got a whole page dedicated to all of my best festive recipes from both my blog and book. You can check it out HERE. What’s a dish that you look forward to the most when celebrating all the end-of-year festivities?

I’ve ate a few whole roasted cauliflower dishes at restaurants before, and I know that they’ve been on the scene for a while, but most of the ones I’ve tried have been kinda meh. Most notably: they were all basically raw in the middle and virtually impossible to cut and serve without clanging a knife loudly on the plate and disrupting the vibe of the entire restaurant. I’ve also found them to lack seasoning throughout the cauliflower down to the core. I really wanted to make my own little flavour bomb version (or perhaps a Flavourtown version?!) that was well seasoned throughout, tender in the center, had a light crust on the exterior, and was served with a creamy sauce and a bunch of textural garnishes. How hard could it be?

I took a pretty orange cauliflower (which helped emphasize the deep red romesco a bit more–we eat with our eyes first!), steamed it to ensure even tenderness, slathered it in the romesco (probably my favourite sauce of all time), and then roasted it until it got a wee little crust on the outside. Then, we cover the whole thing in a pretty green flecked tahini sauce with lots of lemon juice. This combination is SO flavourful! This dish hinges on the romesco and tahini sauces, which can both be made quickly in the food processor up to 5 days in advance. Then, all you have to do on the day of the big meal is steam and roast your cauliflower, set up your serving platter, and get your garnishes out. It’s beautiful, simple, just the right amount of festive, and just incredibly delicious.

Keeping it light and brief today. I’ve got a little more holiday cooking inspiration over on the Etsy blog this week as well. You can check it out here :)

ROMESCO ROASTED WHOLE CAULIFLOWER W/ HERBED TAHINI CREAMPrint the recipe here!Serves: 4-6Notes:You can make the romesco and tahini cream up to 5 days in advance. Keep them in the fridge!-I dropped a few lemon slices and smashed garlic cloves into the steaming water for my cauliflower for a little extra flavour infusion. This is an optional additional step.-You can broil the cauliflower on high at the end for a couple minutes for some extra browning if you like! Just keep an eye on it while it’s under.

CAULIFLOWER:1 medium-large head of cauliflower (2 lbs), leaves removed1 tablespoon olive oilsea salt and ground black pepper, to tasteMake the sunflower romesco: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sunflower seeds, roasted red peppers, garlic, paprika, aleppo pepper, vinegar, tomato paste, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pulse the mixture until all ingredients are finely chopped and lightly pasty. Scrape the bowl down. With the motor on low, drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube until sauce is creamy. Check for seasoning and set aside.Rinse the food processor. Make the herbed tahini cream. In the food processor combine the lemon juice, garlic, maple syrup, salt, parsley, green onions, and rosemary. Pulse the mixture until herbs are finely chopped. Add the tahini and pulse to combine. It will get pasty. With the motor running, drizzle in the ice water until you have a smooth, fluid, slightly aerated sauce. Check for seasoning and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.Make the whole roasted cauliflower: using a paring knife, cut into the core of the cauliflower on an angle to expose the “branches” and crevices of the cauliflower. Flip the cauliflower right side up and place in a steamer basket. In a large pot, bring a couple inches of water to a boil. Once boiling, carefully drop the steamer basket in and close a lid on tight. Steam the cauliflower for 10 minutes. The exterior should yield to a poke from a paring knife.Carefully extract the cauliflower from the pot and dry off the surface thoroughly. Flip the cauliflower over and spoon some of the romesco into the crevices. Shake and tap the cauliflower to work it in.Line an oven-proof skillet or baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cauliflower inside, right side up. Brush the exterior with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Transfer to the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes.After 10 minutes, take the cauliflower out and brush it liberally with romesco. Place the cauliflower back in the oven for another 35-40 minutes, or until browned, dry on the exterior & yielding when poked with a knife.Serve whole roasted cauliflower hot on a platter with more romesco, herbed tahini cream, and garnishes of choice.

I order it from Natura Market! They have free shipping across Canada on orders over $49 and their selection of special diet/whole food goodness is pretty great. Their site: https://naturamarket.ca/ReplyCancel

I would go super simple! Either roasted or mashed potatoes for the starch (they can roast alongside the cauliflower if your baking sheet is big enough). And then I’d do a big and pretty salad with arugula, kale, lemony vinaigrette, toasted nuts and seeds, shaved carrots, and little pomegranate seeds.
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I made this tonight and it was incredibly tasty! My cauliflower broke into several pieces after the steaming (maybe it was too small?) However the sauces were so good and complimented each other extremely well. I did add a handful of Parmesan to the romanesco, which would also work perfectly on pasta.
Great recipe! Thanks Laura!ReplyCancel

This looks sooo good!! I was actually thinking of featuring this recipe in my latest blogpost on my website (www.muriellebanackissa.com), where I will be sharing a list of recipes I’d love to try making during the holidays. Would it be ok if I used the first photo? If that works for you, you could send it to me at my email address :)

[…] Romesco Roasted Whole Cauliflower with Herbed Tahini Cream. If the description alone wasn’t enough to make you want to drop everything and get cooking, Laura’s styling on this recipe is sure to make you swoon. I’m always totally in awe of her food and photos. […]ReplyCancel

Suzanne05/12/2018 - 10:29 am

This dish was perfection! We devoured the entire thing for three people. I like to follow the recipe exactly the first time and then make adjustments as needed. So the quantity of oil was my target. I now make with almost no oil (just a splash) and it is still delicious. Thank you for such great recipes!!!ReplyCancel

Yes, you could definitely just use florets. You would skip the steaming step. I would probably only make half of the romesco (if you’re roasting the equivalent of one head of cauliflower in terms of florets). I would toss all of the florets with the romesco, a big drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I’d roast all of that for about 20-25 minutes, flipping and stirring up the cauliflower at the halfway point.
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